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  In the last few years a lot of research has documented the benefits of vitamin D. Vitamin D is important for a variety of functions. The study reviewed here investigated the link between vitamin D levels and cognition in 3369 men aged 40 to 79 years (Lee D.M. et...

  The evidence for how important vitamin D is keeps increasing. The study reviewed here examined the association between breast cancer and plasma 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels (Crew KD. et al, 2009). 25-hydroxy vitamin D is the most common blood test used to check the status of vitamin D. When...

Everybody is aware that exercise provides cardiovascular benefits, but it may not be that well known that exercise can also be effective in the prevention of cancer. The two studies referred to here examined the association between physical activity and breast cancer risk ( Martina E., et al, 2008, Suzukis.,...

  Previous research has linked sugar-sweetened beverages to weight gain and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The study reviewed here investigated the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and the risk for coronary heart disease in 88,250 women aged 34-59 years (Fung T.T. et al, 2009). These women were free...

Getting enough quality sleep is important for the immunity and health in general. The interesting thing is that sleep can affect the blood pressure drastically. 1741 men and women participated in a recent study to evaluate how insomnia and poor sleep affected blood pressure (Alexandros N., et al. 2009). The...

A low salt diet is usually recommended for people who have high blood pressure. The study referred to here investigated the effect of salt reduction on vascular function by measuring artery flow-mediated vasodilation (widening of blood vessels) (Dickinson KM, et al, 2009). The researchers compared measurements after 2 weeks of...

This may not be what you want to hear, but there are some interesting evidence why it makes sense to reduce the intake of red meat and processed meat. The study reviewed here investigated the relations of red, white and processed meat intake to the risk for total and cause...

            Potato chips have never been considered a healthy food and the study referred to here provides even more evidence for how unhealthy it is. The study was small, but interesting since several inflammatory markers were measured (Naruszewicz M, et al.). The participants were both...

  The glycemic index is a way to rate how high a certain food will raise the blood sugar when compared to glucose or white bread. The higher the glycemic index of a food the higher it will raise the blood sugar. Glycemic load is another way to rate food...

  Menopause can be a difficult time for some women, but it may not have to be that problematic. There are several things which can be done to make it easier. A healthy diet and exercise have for example shown to be helpful, but a simple thing as taking a...

  The latest research on the association of body fat and the risk of death was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a very prestigious publication (Pischon T, et al, 2008). Most of the studies in the past have relied on the body mass index (BMI) and...

Whatever your chronological age, your biological age may be more or less than that. If your chronological age is 60 years, you may biologically be only 50 if you are in good shape or it could be 70 if you are in bad shape.

A lot of evidence is suggesting that a large part of the population have suboptimal levels of vitamin D. The research referenced here reviewed the evidence that vitamin D deficiency is associated with cardiovascular disease and also the evidence that supplementation of vitamin D is associated with reduction in cardiovascular...

You may think it is strange that what you eat can cause anxiety or make you depressed. Food is more than calories which give us energy. Science has demonstrated that the micronutrients in food, the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other substances act as cell signaling molecules. They help the nervous...

Research has documented the importance of having a ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids that is not too high. The study reviewed was interesting because the participants were young, healthy adults (medical students) and the purpose was to determine if omega 3 fatty acids would decrease proinflammatory...

A high intake of white rice is associated with the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Both white rice and brown rice are high glycemic index foods, even if brown rice is a little bit better and contains more nutrients than white rice. High glycemic index foods will raise the...

It is easier than you think to prevent serious disease. If you eat right, exercise regularly and don't smoke, the other factors tend to correct them self automatically.

Research has shown that sleeping 7-8 hours per night can make it easier to lose weight. What makes the study reviewed here interesting is that stress in addition to sleep can have an impact on weight loss (Elder CR, et al. 2011). The participants in this research were obese individuals...

Resveratrol got a lot of attention some years ago when research showed amazing benefits in mice. Resveratrol is still a substance receiving a lot of attention from the research community. Two interesting and recent studies on resveratrol are reviewed here. Both studies were conducted on human. In one of these...

Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are conditions which increase the risk for chronic disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are two examples. The study reviewed investigated the effect of oral magnesium supplementation on insulin sensitivity in overweight, insulin resistant, non-diabetic participants (Mooren FC, et al. 2011). The study went on for...